CARSON – After going through a light workout on the Galaxy’s first day of training camp, David Beckham was asked what his goal was for the upcoming season.

“To win something,” he said.

It was a remark uttered without a wink or a dash of irony, which is a good way of explaining how different things are for Beckham and the Galaxy in his second season.

When Beckham dashed over to the practice field to join his teammates after he’d spent 45 minutes doing some fitness testing, he had just one photographer to dodge – a far cry from the phalanx that greeted his arrival last summer.

Gone are the great expectations – selling soccer to America and rescuing England. Replacing them are more modest ones, such as staying in one piece, getting his 100th cap for his country, helping the Galaxy reach the playoffs for the first time in three seasons and – who knows? – perhaps there’s room in there for a trophy.

To do that, the Galaxy are taking a high-risk approach, one that even team president Alexi Lalas – who’s as well-stocked with hubris as he is freckles – acknowledges is a gamble.

He’s brought in an well-learned coach in Ruud Gullit, who will have lots of learning to do with the intricacies of MLS. And the team is putting most of its salary cap into a handful of players – Beckham, Landon Donovan and Carlos Ruiz (Donovan was away on national team duty, and Ruiz didn’t practice because of a knee he termed at 80 percent after surgery). It is filling the rest of the roster with veterans whose best days are past and inexpensive kids.

On that point, they added former Nigerian international left back Celestine Babayaro, who though only 29 was bought out of the final year of his contract by Newcastle because of injuries and a sub-par performance. Babayaro practiced, though he is still awaiting clearance for a work visa.

The goalkeeping duties have been turned over to Steve Cronin, who has all of six career MLS starts.

The other candidates are rookies.

“I expect an improved team,” said Lalas, who added that he’ll have to make more moves before the March 3 deadline of being in compliance with the league salary cap, which is an estimated $2.2 million.

Mostly, though, Monday was a day when players simply got to know each other. When the players split up into groups to do their running – improving is fitness is a major objective of Gullit – the groups were divided almost exclusively along the lines of returners and newcomers, 10 of whom were either rookies or free agents.

“This year it’s a lot more calm, a lot more relaxed,” Beckham said. “(Last year) was frustrating. But it’s a new season, a new start, a new manager, some new players in as well. It’s exciting. We’ve got to prove that we can play and we can win things. It’s a fresh start for us.”

Galaxy notes

Beckham said he understood why Fabio Capello, his former coach at Real Madrid, didn’t choose him for England’s friendly Wednesday against Switzerland. “In a way, I totally understand why I’ve not been included in the squad,” Beckham said. “You’ve got players who’ve played 10 to 15 games in the Premiership in the last two months, and I haven’t played since December. But I’m back here now, working hard and training.”